'Lombardi' gives Packers fans a chance to get to know 'the most imperfect perfect man'

"Lombardi" takes place during a week in 1965 as Packers coach Vince Lombardi prepares for the championship game, but the play also offers a personal look at him at home. Neil Friedman stars in the title role for the Weidner Center production that runs through March 10.(Photo: Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

In a city where Vince Lombardi looms larger than even the 14-foot statue outside Lambeau Field, it’s hard to believe the play that bears his name has never been tackled on a Green Bay stage.

Since Eric Simonson’s “Lombardi” opened on Broadway in 2010, the story of the legendary Green Bay Packers coach has found its way to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Peninsula Players Theatre in Fish Creek and another 50 theater companies and troupes around the country.

But never in Titletown — until now.

Green Bay’s first fully staged professional production of “Lombardi” opens Friday for a 17-performance run at the Weidner Center. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay performing arts center isn’t just hosting “Lombardi,” it’s also producing it.

Nobody is more thrilled than Simonson, who grew up on the Packers in the Milwaukee area and later the small town of Eagle. When David Maraniss’ book, “When Pride Still Mattered — A Life of Vince Lombardi,” came out in 1999, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on it. His “Lombardi” script is based on that book.

“This is really a big deal for me, because it feels like the play has finally come home,” Simonson said.

“Lombardi” shows a different side of the iconic NFL coach of the '60s, in the fedora and glasses on the sidelines of Lambeau Field. Set during a week in 1965, it takes audiences into his home as he and wife Marie are visited by a reporter assigned to write a profile of Lombardi just before the championship game. They see him interact with three of his Packers players, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor and Dave Robinson, and learn anecdotes about his life through flashbacks.

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"Lombardi" actors Neil Friedman, who plays Packers coach Vince Lombardi, and Geoff Rice, who plays reporter Michael McCormick, get to know one another during a week in 1965.(Photo: Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

“What I try to do with the play, I tried to make Lombardi personable and a human,” Simonson said. “I tried to focus on the relationships that he had with, mainly his wife, but also his players, and that’s stuff David can’t re-create in the book.

“I think if people come and see it, my hope is that they’re going to feel like they had an evening with the man himself. That was the goal is to bring him back to life in a way that makes you understand him, admire him and see him for who he is, was.”

Marie knew Lombardi, warts and all

Professional actors Neil Friedman and Carmen Roman will reprise their roles as Vince Lombardi and Marie Lombardi, respectively, from the 2012 production of “Lombardi” at Peninsula Players. Dan Lauria (“The Wonder Years”) and Judith Light (“Who’s the Boss?”) played those roles on Broadway.

Marie, often described as the “long-suffering wife” of Lombardi in reviews of the play, was particularly fun to write.

“And a really great source of honest humor in the play, too, because this is a woman who had to live with the man. There’s a lot of love in the relationship, but there’s also a lot of angst. Two people trying to live with each other’s flaws,” Simonson said.

“It was important to include a character in the play who knew Lombardi, warts and all. It just added another dimension. We see some very personal scenes between them when they’re by themselves, and we see arguments played out in front of a third party, which makes things interesting.”

Lombardi has become something of a mythological, timeless figure, Simonson said, and one synonymous with perfection and excellence. “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we catch excellence,” Lombardi once said. It’s that quest for perfection that is at the heart of the play.

“There’s a tension between the man who is trying to be perfect, and realizes at the end, or maybe he doesn’t realize it, but we realize it’s impossible for anyone to achieve that,” Simonson said. “Even a line one of the characters says that he’s the most imperfect perfect man that he’s ever met. You’re going to sort of a get a glimpse of a man who struggles for that perfection and falls short, but never gives up.”

Making 'Lombardi' feel at home at Weidner

Weidner executive and artistic director Kelli Strickland calls it “a peek of Lombardi at home.” To compliment the personal feel of the story, it’s being staged in the intimate space of the 200-seat Fort Howard Hall, where no theatergoer will be more than 75 feet from the actors.

The Weidner has done a major transformation of the theater to accommodate “Lombardi.” The oak floor has been covered and a false proscenium built to give the sense of a stage with depth. With no built-in lighting grid or battens, technical director Paul Heim had to get creative with existing pipes.

“It was no light lift,” Strickland said.

When the curtain goes up on “Lombardi” this weekend, it will be the culmination of more than a year of planning. Strickland and Greg Vinkler, artistic director of Peninsula Players, discussed many potential titles in trying to zero in on the right fit for what is a new endeavor for the Weidner.

“We were sitting in a restaurant in Evanston, Illinois, having breakfast, and all of a sudden he (Vinkler) just looked up and went, ‘Oh, what about ‘Lombardi’?” Strickland said. “I think I just went, ‘Oh my gosh, of course! We don’t even need to talk anymore. Of course.’”

Vinkler is directing the production at the Weidner.

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Actor Neil Friedman steps into the legendary shoes of Vince Lombardi in "Lombardi." The show, which opened on Broadway in 2010, is getting its first professional Green Bay production at the Weidner Center.(Photo: Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

Simonson has fond memories of the excitement that came with “Lombardi’s” seven-month run on Broadway — both in New York City and back in Green Bay, where its opening was celebrated with festivities at Lambeau Field. At the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway, the NFL took part in special activities like a silent auction, Packers memorabilia in the lobby and an appearance by the New York Giants’ Lombardi Trophy.

“We had people coming to shows every single night, half the people had Packers jerseys on, and people would come from Wisconsin just to see the play,” Simonson said. “It’s always been special to me in that way. I’m really excited about the production in Green Bay, and I really hope I get a chance to see it, because I know these actors and I’ve seen them in the roles, and they’re great.”

For the Weidner staff, the experience of mounting a production in-house brings a different kind of excitement than that of touring shows.

“It’s always great to have the artists in the building, but often when you’re presenting titles they come in, do the show and they move on to the next place," Strickland said. "I think the staff is really enjoying the process of building it with the artists. There have definitely been some very long days and some very long nights. Everyone has been working incredibly hard, but I think that there’s a kind of satisfaction in building something from the ground up that is really gratifying.”

A little 'Lombardi' trivia

Thomas Kail, who directed “Lombardi” on Broadway in 2010, went on to win the Tony Award in 2016 for directing “Hamilton.”

Susan Lombardi, Vince Lombardi’s daughter, attended opening night. “I never expected in a hundred years my father would be on Broadway,” she said.

Judith Light was nominated for a Tony Award for her role in “Lombardi.”

Dan Lauria, who starred as Vince Lombardi, said he was incredibly touched to see retired Packers players Dave Robinson and Jerry Kramer cry during the opening night performance.

Chris Sullivan, who stars as Toby on the NBC hit drama “This Is Us,” played Jim Taylor.

Former Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green played Dave Robinson in the Sheboygan Theatre Company production of “Lombardi” in 2016.

“Lombardi” playwright Eric Simonson’s uncle and father were on the Packers board of directors. His cousin, Dr. Elizabeth Trowbridge, is currently on the board.